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Yuri Spectaculov's War - 4 Nations, one General

It's 1 AM in downtown Manhattan and the most victorious military commander of the 20th century is writing his memoirs

"Today they party,
It passed 5 years since the war ended, but they already forgot the million dead, they party like it never happened...

The Reds too partied in November 14th 1920 when General Wrangel left Crimea, a «a new era of socialist prosperity starts now in Russia» they said.
I was with Wrangel when he left, I was in the beginning of my Career, I was part of his personal staff.

If my father did not die trying to saving him against the Huns, I would never survived the Civil War.
When he died right in front of the General, the a cavalry unit commander he made Wrangel promise that he would take care of me.
And so he did. In June 1918 when I was just 19 and was stationed in Crimea, he approached me and asked me if I wanted to join his Staff. I was just a private, but the civil war just started and he did not really care about hierarchy. I followed him until he had to leave Russia, in two years I became a Lieutenant, I was never in the academy, but I am sure that those two intense years gave me more experience that 5, in Moscow reading Books.

In the last months of 1920 I took a Boat to Tokyo and from there to Vladivostok, I left Wrangel's General Staff and joined General Anatoly Pepelyayev's in the Provisional Priamur Government Army, this was the first time I fought under an other flag that war not Russia's. When in October 25 1922 the Vladivostok Republic fell, I was already in a boat back to Japan

Now a Lieutenant General."

I never finished an AAR, I tried but I never finished, but this time I think I have a good story and I hope this first Epilogue intrigues you enough

If anyone want to comment please do, my dedication to the game and to the writing will depend a lot on your feedback so

Notes in Advance: I am at best an average HOI player, I may save and reload, I may cheat, I may change something that I don't remember right now. If I do so I will tell you. More that making this the perfect game I hope to make this a good story and a pleasant read to everyone

"My rank in the old Army mattered little to the Japanese. When I joined the Japanese Army, I was once more a Colonel and once more I was part of a General’s staff, this time Fukuda Hikosuke’s. I was stationed in Tiajin in the Jinan Province, Fukuda commanded the local Japanese garrison, he was in the front lines of what could be the start of the second Sino-Japanese war.

I was one of the Officers who pulled the trigger when Kuomintang emissary, Cai Gongshi, was executed, it was an uncivilized brutality, so I thought. He and 17 other Chinese were executed when the Koumintang did not obey the Japanese orders to vacate the city.

I knew I had to do it, I knew they were testing me. I knew that Fukuda never liked me and that I was in his general staff just because General Wrangel pushed some string in the Japanese embassy in Brussels.

After the so called Jinan incident I knew of my mentor’s death. They told me he was assassinated by a Bolshevik, this was just one more nail in the Soviet Coffin.

In 1930 I was sent to Manchuria to Command an infantry unit. When Lieutenant General Jirõ Tamon lead the invasion Manchuria (in September 19 1931), the Russian Unit, the name they gave my unit, was the first on the line, once again the Japanese were testing me. In days we captured 11 cities, from Anshan too Penhsihu.

I followed General Jirõ Tamon’s 2nd division to the end, to Harbin, when in January 5th we took the last Chinese controlled City in Manchuria.

When in 1933 he retired I took his place in Command of the 2nd division, the Russian Division as they now called it.
It was a very controversial move by the, normally very conservative, General Staff, maybe they hoped that my knowledge of the Russian military could help them in a future war against Russia.

I was a Major General in the Japanese Imperial Army stationed in Manchuria when I was called back to Japan, in the new year’s eve of 1935”

And so the gameplay starts, I did a small test game and it did not go terrible.

I decided to Play with WIF because it is probably one of the most difficult Mods out there and it is not terrible event driven.
I hope you enjoyed the Prologue and that it not too far fetch.
And if you are wondering, I search all this Information from Wikipedia and everything (besides Yuri Spetaculov’s involvement) is (wiki)true

It was 7AM when Yuri Spetaculov seat once more on his chair to once more start writing

Japan, January 3st 1936 - The meeting -

"I was contacted by general Shigeru Honjō, the commander of the Invasion Army in 1931 to meet with him and some other veteran Generals of the Manchurian Campaign. There I was told that he lead an interest group, a lobby as you now call it, that it had the mission to lead Japan into glory once again.
He said he eared of my unit in 1931 and that he thought I was a very able military commander, so he choose me to come to a Grand Council Meeting, the place were the Generals and the members of the government discussed the future of Japan.
He said that after Manchuria, China would come and after that my hated enemies, the Soviets.

One week ago I was just one of the many Major Generals in Manchuria I was stationed in Jilian right near the Soviet Border, from time time I would go alone to the border marks and look towards my homeland

Now I was in the Grand Council Meeting that would change my future for ever.

In that meeting, all the great Generals of Japan where there, like Generals Shigeru Honjō, Jotaro Watanabe, Hata, Terauchi Higashini, and some Ministers like Kotohito or Yasuji.
But I did not see any Admiral, only on the next day they informed me that they left the meeting on the day before.

It was because the Council decided Japan would not build any ship, like the Navy Faction wanted, and that the Council ordered the recruitment of 3 new division for almost 18 months, they hoped in the end they would have 30 new division. Besides that they decided that for the next 3 years the majority of the war efforts should go towards the infantry*

This was a great spit, the first of the many this meeting would have.

As I arrived I was informed of the decisions made since the start of the Meeting.

First it was decided that Japan would disband every garrison division in the pacific that was not in a strategical position and the other garrisons near to Japan would come back to Japan. This was one of the most difficult decisions, because the Navy Faction (still in the meeting when this decision was made) did not want to disband, the Move North (Anti-Russian) Faction wanted to move those garrisons to the Manchuria-Russian Border and the Imperial Way Faction wanted to disband those units just so the army would consume less supplies. The last Faction won.**

They also decided to start a great propaganda campaign so that the people would became even more militaristic***

I did never take part of the discussions, I was just one of the many low rank generals that just seat and eared the "big boys" talk.

The only thing of importance I witnesses was the list of the Objectives the research teams in Japan would have.

Then it all ended,
The air was already tense, but when the Prime Minister spoke about the future of the Sino-Japanese Relations, all hell broke loss. Prime Minister Okada Keisuke said something like this, «We will invade China in Four years, until then we must consolidate Manchuria first, until then we will start a friendly and cordial relation with the Koumintang and so we will create a demilitarize zone near the Border. With that move we will pacify our relations with China and we will consume less Supplies»

What General Shigeru Honjō said seconds after I will never forgot «When we invaded Manchuria we did not need any approval. And we will not need when we Invade China. My Troops will not leave China, nor will we wait Two years for something that we can start doing in one year. I know your Kind Prime Minister Keisuke Always a pacifist, if it were not for our armed Forces, Japan would never became Glorious as it is today!»
With that, he stood up, as did almost half of the low rank generals, and when Honjō left, so did almost every standing up general.

I never knew why I did not stood up and why I did not left. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was the eyes he had. It took me two months. to know I did the right thing."

*this choice is a choice one makes in the beginning of a WiF game, I could choose between Infantry, Armor, Naval or Air. I choose Infantry because it is the back bone of the JIA, I did not choose Air because I would have the TAC desactivated if I started building it because I was low on manpower and I did not go towards Naval because it's to soon.

**I could not move those units back to japan because they are looked

***I choose Hank Lobby

@tcnc The way he is in Manhattan is not because I am a great HOI2 player, that is for sure
@jacknight554 & MacDunne I hope this post makes you even more interested

"Those two months before the incident where the most tense I ever witnessed in Japan. No one talked about a revolution or a coup, but everyone could smell it, no General would walked alone in Tokyo. Even the most ignorant civilian could know something was happening. We in the military were sure something was happening.

On January 16 the first Units from Manchuria arrived at Seoul, they were just border Guards, they were the first in the line against the Soviet Union and their commanders never really fought a battle, they were very happy to come back to Japan.

The other units refused to come back to Japan, the commanders in Manchuria all had "logistical problems" so they could not travel to Japan.
The government did not know what to do, some talked about taking every commander in Manchuria to a court Marshall, but they knew if they refused, there was little they could do. The only ones that were ready to act were the Navy and the Air Force.

One thing that I did not watch in the Grand Council Meeting was the discussion about the Reformation of the Navy, it was decided to Create 2 Battleship Fleets, and 1 Carrier Fleet, besides that the Submarines would be divided in packs of 2 flotillas and all the Transports would come together, with a CA as a Flagship.

The air force would reform too, every type of aircraft would have their own force.

This two reformations were the sign the government needed to know they were not alone. Even if they knew that the majority of the Generals would follow whatever the words of the emperor, the government knew that did not mean they would follow the government's orders so blindly.

Still Japan was not paralyzed and also on the 16th of January Japan signed Trade Agreements with his historical allies the Manchurians, the Tai, the Americans and the Dutch, with this Japan had enough raw materials to keep the industry working at 100%

The administration plan even had a small surplus of industrial sites, so it decided allocate some towards upgrading the imperial armed forces.

Everything was starting to call down, the that was just the calm before the storm.

Yuri smiled when he thought what his readers who didn't know his story where thinking

"Of course, if you are reading means I am not dead.
But I was closed, but once again faith intervine.

All happened on February 2nd 1936, it was a cold morning when a Car exploded right in front of my house, I was staying in Tokyo for one more week before going back to Manchuria. And thanks to our mighty God I left it one hour before I used to do. I was the only one that survived, all the others died*

Only days later I finally understood why I knew all of them, and why they are all dead now. They were with me and General Shigeru Honjō before we went to the Grand Council Meeting and all of them, as I, did not leave the Room when Honjõ did. This was the his retaliation for our betrayal.

I decided to take that window of opportunity, as everyone thought I was dead, to quickly went underground and secretly found refuge in Secretary of the Army Inanba Satoru, I didn't had many friends in Tokyo the few I had were now dead, or were too close too Honjõ.
I don't really know why of all the administration I would choose Secretary Satoru, but now I know I did the right choice.

I stayed in his house until the Incident Started and the majority of my enemies were flushed out.

On that day and on the following 3, Tokyo was in a state of almost civil war. The Tokyo Garrison was sympathetic with the revolt, as were many Generals like Honjõ. But the word of the emperor was the final one.
He called those troops Rebels and everyone should surrender or face the consequences.
And when the Battleships from the Second Battleship Fleet arrived at Tokyo Bay, the little hope the rebels still had, vanished.
Two officers committed seppuku, the others were arrested.
Everyone that was once sympathetic with the Kodoha was seat way from public life or sent to outlying garrisons. General Shigeru Honjõ decided he wanted to retire.

On the first day of March, Italy Annexed Ethiopia, little did I know how Important that little backwarded country was so important.

And on that day a new era for Japan started.

Hirohito ordered Prime Minister to find out why the Ministers of Security and Intelligence were not aware of this coup and also ordered the Chief or Army to retire.

**

The new minister Satoru, the person who harbored me and was becoming a friend gave me a Medal for my valor when I decided not to Join Generals like Honjõ.

The people were not happy about the suppression of the Coup and the changes in the Gabinet, but there was martial law in Tokyo and little could do they do, with time and extra rations they became less problematic. Even if the martial law would be lifted later, people felt less freedom on the street. Besides that some of the ideas of the 1400 where left on the air and people were more inclined towards an attack towards China that before.***

One of the conditions for the help in the suppression of the revolt was that Navy would have the Escort Carrier that they wished.

And now that order was finally established the Armies of Manchuria would come back to Japan to receive a major Reformation

Only a small border guard, half-strength division, Commanded by General Nishio would be left in Tangshan, while the borders of Manchuria would be defended by Manchuria herself.

In March all the Garrisons in Japan were put together in Fukuoka while the other part of the army would assemble near Hiroshima, there the new Chief of the Army, my friend, Inanba Satoru ordered the Reform of the Army. He ordered 16 new Military Police units to be created so nothing like the 2 26 incident would ever happen again. He dismantled all the AA specialized brigades, for he thought there was no need as our future enemies had little air power.

He ordered the merge of the Cavalry Divisions into 2 Corps. The Artillery where concentrated in 3 Corps, composed by 3 infantry Divisions each. Besides that he Ordered 3 more Artillery Brigades to be constructed and One engineering Brigade that would latter be called the Russian Engineers.

2 Infantry Divisions were merged with my Russian Division and created the Engineering Corps and when the Chief of the Army choose the Leader for that Corps, he remembered my Campaign in Manchuria and he promoted me to Lt. General.
For the Army General HQs he choose Generals Higashihuni, Hata and Terauchi H. Whil Terauchi T, would be the head of the training Facilities in Fokuoka where all the Garrison divisions were also stationed.

And as promised all the Generals that were found too supportive were sent to the Pacific.

With this reformation I was back in a position I could make a difference and with Satoru as the Chief of Army, my influence in the Japanese army was greater then ever.

Little could I know 15 years ago I would became one of the most influential person in Japan"

*This part is a funny story, as you may know there is an event in WiF where all the Majors Generals that are Old Guard are "retired", well, when I created Yuri Spetaculov I "stole" an Old Guard's ID, so when the event Triggered, Yuri was retired. So I went back and stole an other MJ General ID and so he was brought back to life

**I could have done this before, It would make more game sense, but story-wise this was a great opportunity.
In security I will pass from 5% to 10% consumer good consumption. In Intelligence I will now have +5% IC and in the Army less 15% in supply consumption
***The event gave japan -1 Freedom and +1 Intervention and +1 dissident

@Admiral Yamamot & Capibara: Thanks, I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment, nothing like feedback to make a writer happy
@Enewald: If until here you don't find this too impossible, I think the title will make all the sense in the world

"My Russian Division was one of the the last to come back to Japan, they all cheered me when I joined them at Hiroshima's port. Lt. General Fujie was the commanding General while I was away. He Saluted me and gave me his congratulations for my promotion. He was the commander of all Japanese Armed forces in the South East of Manchuria and now we would both have the same rank and the same position. He would Command an Artillery Corps while I would command the new Engineering Corps.

Hiroshima became a military city with almost all of the Japanese Troops there, only small garrisons where left in the most important cities of Japan and some Division Size Garrisons some Pacific Islands. Still the People in Hiroshima and allover Japan were not very unhappy because the consumer goods were cheapear then ever thanks to a great quantity of the production.

In the training Center in Fukouka run by General Terauchi T. 3 Infantry Division were created every 90 days* so more and more troops arrived at Hiroshima

Besides that a new specialist Kempeitai Units would be created every 30 days, those Kempeitai men where specialists because in every 10 policeman 1 would know Chinese. Even if the public did not know that and the Goverment tried to hide it as good as it could, the General Staff all knew about it and it's meaning

In June my Russian Division finally recieved the Engeering Material.

That Material was top of the line, but not the rest, as were the majority of the Material in the Japanese Armed Forces, my material was very outdated, I believe in the final years of the Russian Civil War back in the 20's I had better rifles. So after all the disented went to 0, the Administration ordered the upgrade of all the imperial armed forces

This was a very important, as the Imperial Armed forces could never win a war without the best equipment in the world.

Those months were rather peaceful and some of the men were starting to became lazier, but then we got a news that would alarm us and put us ready for action once again."

*I am not sure of the time it does to build a infantry unit as I don't have an access to the game right now

"June 19, that day would send shock waves to the other side of the Yellow Sea, shock waves that would change the Japanese Nation for years to come.

On that day the Warlords of Guangxi Chique sent an offensive towards North, in the end it would fail and in 4 months they would sign an humiliating peace treaty with the Kuomintang. It was not the defeat that sent shock waves, it was the lost opportunity.

On June 24 an extraordinary Grand Council Meeting was called, there to discuss were again the military leaders of Japan and the administration.
The army commanders, even those who were not supportive with the 2 26 incident, talked about invading one or both Chinese Movements, they argued their defenses were down and that if we did not take this opportunity we would probably never have a chance like this.

But Satoru was clear «No attack by Japan will be made while we have outdated material» that meant to attack could not be made before the end of the year. The generals all shouted the Japanese spirit was more than enough to overcome the Chinese, but his word was final.

Some were worried that a 2 26 would happen again, but in the end of the meeting Prime Minister Keisuke was clear «Gentleman be ready, before this meeting reaches her first anniversary you will all be in China»

But it was not just Asia that was in Tourmoil, in Europe a Civil War started, again the guilty were the Communist ramble.

On November 25 the last outdated Imperial Japanese Army artillery brigade was upgraded to a 150mm Type 38 and with that the Imperial Armed Forces where fully upgraded

When that happened it was ordered that in all of Japan the factories should either be upgraded or start making military rations

And on 1 December I was reading, or should I say my interpreter was reading, as I could not read an whole Japanese Magazine, about the new Japanese Military Wonders.

There was not much advance on the ground, just some advances in the Cavalry, the rest were advances in the Industry and the Navy , I really didn't understand why should we research that if our enemies would be land based armies like the Chinese and the Russian.

What I thought the mot when my Division and the other 47 started going back to Manchuria was, why did so many young officers died and battle hearted Generals as Honjõ retired, because right now we were doing exactly what they wanted"

Something that I hope you are feeling is that this story is about a General and not about the whole war/world and that this is his perspective, that means this person do not know everything about everyone, nor does he, because he is just a Lt. General, have much control over anything.

@Enewald, believe me if I could I would have invaded right away, but WiF is much more difficult and I can't be so risky as in vanilla and/or other Mods